Why worry about bad press when you can create fake news that puts you in a good light? That is what the Bush Administration has figured out after three years in office. According to The New York Times, over 30 TV stations ran “news stories” produced by the Bush Administration on Medicare:

WASHINGTON, March 14 — Federal investigators are scrutinizing television segments in which the Bush administration paid people to pose as journalists praising the benefits of the new Medicare law, which would be offered to help elderly Americans with the costs of their prescription medicines.

The videos are intended for use in local television news programs. Several include pictures of President Bush receiving a standing ovation from a crowd cheering as he signed the Medicare law on Dec. 8.

The materials were produced by the Department of Health and Human Services, which called them video news releases, but the source is not identified. Two videos end with the voice of a woman who says, "In Washington, I'm Karen Ryan reporting."

But the production company, Home Front Communications, said it had hired her to read a script prepared by the government.

The TV stations involved apparently thought the “news stories” were real and now the General Accounting office is investigating at the request of members of Congress.